Michigan
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land is trying to make people "drive further and
further, just to receive assistance," according to state Sen. Roger
Kahn, R-Saginaw, who says his fellow Republican should focus her
attention instead on "bringing services closer to the people." Kahn's
criticisms were directed at the Dept. of State's ongoing Branch Office
Modernization Program, which aims to save scarce taxpayer dollars by
consolidating branches into fewer, but more technically-savvy and
customer-friendly, locations. For Kahn's district, this means the loss of a
branch in Frankenmuth and enhanced services at another in Saginaw — decision
that Kahn calls "a mistake," but that Land's office
defines as "fiscal responsibility."

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Though
Kahn asserts that the plan "makes no sense" because "the people of Frankenmuth
will have to drive more than 40 miles round trip every time they register to
vote or renew their license plate tabs," it would appear that very few
customers would be required to endure these inconveniences. Most can renew
license tabs online or through the mail and voter registration matters can be
accomplished at township and city halls.

Land
notes that in comparison to 2007, online and mail renewals in fiscal 2009
resulted in 2 million fewer trips to branch offices. Additionally, the expanded
"Super!Center" and "Plus" offices being
created by the Modernization Program provide later service hours on Wednesdays
(until 7 p.m.), Saturday hours for the Super!Centers, self-serve stations and
other enhancements designed to expedite the visits for those customers who still
need to make the trip. These extra services went unmentioned by two other GOP
state senators — Gerald Van Woerkom,
R-Muskegon, and Randy Richardville,
R-Monroe — who also blasted the Modernization Program, claiming that it would
result in both longer drives and longer wait times in their districts.

Modernization
has been ongoing since 2004. This new round of consolidations would bring the
number of branches down to 131, from 173 a decade ago. But within the remaining
131 branches, taxpayers will soon have six Super!Centers and 38 PLUS offices to
choose from. (Five Super!Centers and 22 PLUS offices are already in operation.)
The Dept. of State proclaims that they have "reduced staffing levels by 20
percent through attrition."

Land
notes that Saturday hours and other perks of the enhanced offices have been
"extremely popular" where they have been implemented. But the program has been
a frequent subject of Legislative criticism, even though nearly all lawmakers
have claimed to support the notion of cost-conscious state agencies. And
leaving aside the Republican senators criticizing the current phase of the
plan, the overwhelming majority of the opposition to the department's
budget-conscious ways has come from Democrats.

In
2007, the Democrat-controlled Michigan House approved a bill that would have re-written the Dept. of
State funding rules so as to make branch consolidations more difficult. Current
GOP Rep. Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth, and Sen. Mike Nofs, R-Battle Creek, (who was
then a member of the House) were two of just three Republicans to vote with the
united Democratic caucus in favor of obstructing the Modernization Program.
(The third Republican is no longer in the Legislature.)

On
Dec. 18, 2009, the Michigan House again set in motion an effort to block branch
office consolidation when it approved House Bill 5686. This time, 58
Democrats and one Republican voted to thwart part of the Modernization Program.
The lone Republican was John Walsh, R-Livonia. The Republican-controlled Senate
has not yet considered the bill.

Two
of Land's loudest Democrat critics
during the current round of Modernization are from East Lansing: Sen. Gretchen
Whitmer and Rep. Mark Meadows. The downtown East Lansing branch and another
four miles away in downtown Lansing are scheduled to be closed after the
department creates a new Super!Center in a shopping plaza that abuts the MSU
Campus, sits next to U.S. 127 and is about halfway between the two
conventional branches being consolidated.

But
neither lawmaker was pleased with Ingham County getting its first Super!Center
if it meant closing two of the inferior conventional facilities nearby.

"The
Secretary of State's plan will put a giant wall between our students and their
ability to participate in our democracy," noted Meadows in a joint press
release. He did not mention that students could still change their voting
residency and register to vote at the East Lansing City Hall, also just a
couple of blocks from the Spartan campus.

Meadows was East Lansing's mayor from 1997
until 2005, and he was a member of its city council until 2008.

Whitmer
observed that "The current East Lansing branch is the only option for many
Michigan State University students who don't have a mode of transportation."
She did not point out that the student rate for a round-trip bus ticket
to the downtown Lansing branch is currently $1.20 and that more than a dozen
bus routes run alongside or directly serve the campus during all business hours.

The
release blasting the Modernization Program also notes that Sen. Whitmer
acquired a law degree from Michigan State.

Having been approved by the House of
Representatives, House Bill 5686 is now in the
Michigan Senate's Committee on Local, Urban and State Affairs. Sen. VanWoerkom
is the chair.

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